Over the last six decades health care in Scotland has changed dramatically – and in Forth Valley these changes currently centre on a £293 million new acute hospital under construction at Larbert.

While most Falkirk Bairns expect immediate access to health professionals, whether it be for toothache or broken limbs, older generations remember a time when such services were often considered a
luxury and had to be paid for out of a limited wage packet.

The NHS was the brainchild of Nye Bevan, the Health Minister in Clement Attlee's Labour Government, and was officially launched on July 5, 1948.

In its first financial year, the cost of the NHS in Scotland was nearly £42 million – about £6.76 annually per head of population. Fast forward to the present and latest figures show that health and social care now costs around £2313 per patient annually.

While the benefits brought about by the NHS are not in doubt, medical advancements which improve lives from the cradle to the grave, bring with them heightened expectations that the health service can cure all ills.

Claims that some care and medicines are only prescribed through a 'postcode lottery' cause emotions to run high, but the stark reality is that, despite more money than ever before being poured into the NHS, the coffers are not bottomless.

One of those charged with spending wisely the vast sums on healthcare locally is Ian Mullen, a pharmacist who is now chairman of NHS Forth
Valley.

In his view, the creation of the NHS in Scotland resulted in a huge improvement in public health by ensuring that care was free at the point of delivery.

He said: "Sixty years later NHS Forth Valley works to continue the improvements in public health by working with other agencies to tackle health inequalities and by having a clear and agreed strategy for the future development of services.

"The future looks very bright indeed for the NHS in Forth Valley.

Waiting times are lower than ever and the first of three new community hospitals will be completed in Clackmannanshire at the end of this year. By the end of 2009, the building of the new hospital for the people of Forth Valley will be substantially complete and will take its first patients the following year."

But he acknowledged that there were challenging times ahead: "As we move forward, we need to continue to manage the increasing demand for health services which have been the result of successes such as new technology and drugs and meet the challenges of modern medicine.

''However, with a range of new facilities, combined with our skilled and dedicated workforce NHS Forth Valley will deliver a comprehensive range of services to the people of Forth Valley for many years to come."

Charged with overseeing Scotland's health care is MSP Nicola Sturgeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. Yesterday (Wednesday), she told The Falkirk Herald: "Most of us have only ever known a
Scotland that has an NHS.

''A high quality, publicly-owned service which is free to everyone at the point of delivery.

"But some Scots will remember the days when seeing a doctor was a hard choice, often between essential treatment and food for the family.

"For the future, I want to see the Scottish people and the NHS staff become real partners – co-owners – of the health service so that they can shape a truly responsive national health service which meets Scotland's needs for the next 60 years."